Opinion: How to get the streetcar Uptown faster and cheaper

CIN
4:46 p.m. EDT April 2, 2014

John Schneider is a streetcar and public transit advocate. He lives Downtown.

Following extensive study, the city chose Vine Street for the streetcar's Uptown connector. The plan requires northern-bound streetcars to reverse direction when they reach Over-the-Rhine's Henry Street by turning south onto Race Street, then go a block east to Vine, and then reverse direction again to resume the path to Uptown. This circuitous route takes the streetcar five blocks out of its way. Along this path, the streetcar will be slowed by five traffic lights including the complicated mixing bowl where Vine meets McMicken and Elder.

We can do better. We can significantly reduce the Uptown streetcar's construction and operating costs and save passengers millions of hours over the life of the streetcar investment. It's a simple idea based on the principle that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. And it has a name: the Clifton Shortcut.

Instead of the streetcar's reversing course at Henry Street to travel south onto Race, it would instead turn north on Race, cross McMicken and pass under Lower Clifton Avenue. North of Clifton, the route would rise to meet Vine Street near Mulberry. The city would need to demolish some mostly abandoned buildings between Lower Ohio Avenue and Vine Street, a regrettable but acceptable loss if we're serious about harnessing the power of rail to repopulate our city. North of Henry Street, the extended Race Street would host both directions of streetcar travel, enabling southbound passengers to avoid several traffic signals and save time.

Not counting property acquisition, the Clifton Shortcut will cost at least $10 million less than the current plan, but the savings are likely much more since utilities won't need to be moved on a three-block section of Vine Street or on Elder and Findlay. Nor will traffic be disrupted as much during construction.

The Clifton Shortcut will shave an average of eight minutes off streetcar travel to and from Uptown. Assuming there will be 3,000 daily trips, that's almost 150,000 hours of travel time saved each year. Over the first 30 years, that's worth about $19 million in today's dollars. If the Shortcut makes travel by rail faster than driving and parking, streetcar ridership is certain to be higher than what has been projected so far. And since two-way Vine Street is increasingly congested south of Clifton Avenue, keeping the streetcar off that part of Vine is wise planning as Over-the-Rhine continues to regain population and commerce.

There would also be labor and electrical power savings as running time is reduced. Eliminating four 90-degree turns on Elder and Findlay will result in less vehicle maintenance because sharp turns cause wheel wear. And since our streetcars will be running on 12-minute "headways" – that's rail-geek for the length of time between streetcars – faster travel may enable Cincinnati to eliminate a vehicle from its next fleet purchase and save an additional $4 million.

Just counting the construction-cost savings plus the value of time saved, the Clifton Shortcut is worth at least $29 million in today's dollars. And this doesn't include all the utility relocation, vehicle-purchase and operating-cost savings. Nor does it include increased fare revenue since shorter travel times will attract more passengers.

The streetcar's path to Uptown has plenty of challenges and opportunities that are just now coming into sharper focus.

We should accelerate this process of discovery and make the connection between our two economic powerhouses the best it can be. ■

Uptown on hold

Extending the Cincinnati streetcar to Uptown was originally part of the plan to link the riverfront to Over-the-Rhine to UC's main campus. But funding cuts caused the Uptown phase to be put on hold. Uncertain costs, complex utility-line relocations and political opposition remain obstacles to extending the now-under-construction line.